Wage and Hour Violations

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that protects all workers in the United States, regardless of immigration status. The FLSA prohibits child labor, requires a minimum wage, sets a standard 40 hour week, and establishes overtime requirements. Employers should be aware of this federal law as it regulates their conduct with employees. A common myth is that employees that are paid salary are not entitled to overtime. This is not true. Only people who are “exempt” are exempt from overtime. Exempt employees include:

Certain types of computer workers
People in recognized artistic or creative areas of employment.
Salespeople who work away from the job site.
Professionals who have specialized academic training.
Those whose work is directly tied to management
Those whose work is tied to general business operations,
administration, accounting, and human resources.

Employees who earn overtime are called non-exempt employees and under the law must be paid “time and a half” or 1.5 times their normal wage for any hours above the standard forty hours a week.

Unfortunately, thousands of employers routinely break the law when it comes to non-exempt employees, violating employees’ rights under FLSA. Because it is costly to pay overtime, some employers ask employees to work after they clock out, alter time cards, or simply fail to pay overtime hoping the employee won’t complain. These widespread practices are completely illegal however.

Effective Representation

Williams Oinonen LLC understands how to effectively represent clients who have experienced wage and hour violations. We handle the following types of wage and hour claims where employers have committed the following violations:

Ordering employees to work off the clock
Altering time cards
Misclassifying employees as exempt
Denying overtime
Allowing managers to take from tipped employees’ tip pools
Regularly asking workers to put on special equipment before clocking in and after clocking out
Asking workers to take work home to meet a deadline
Asking employees to run errands for the employer on the way home
Automatically deducting breaks from time cards regardless of whether the break was taken.

If you have experienced a wage and hour violation, Williams Oinonen LLC can help you obtain justice. Contact us today at (404) 654-0288.